What I'd Like To See

What I would like to see is all of the football experts here to say, "Hey, enough of David Carr, here is what I think about X", with X being anything about Texans football not David Carr or a thin attempt of disguise and still being about David Carr.

So haters and lovers, do you accept the challenge or will you too curl up into a little ball and regurgitate the same stuff? Can you generate a serious front page of the Bullpen with no Carr posts?

I say you can't. You don't know enough about football.

Reverse psychology? No. I think as a group you are all that limited. Sorry, but you've proved it over the past six months.

Unless we talk strictly about defense, its impossible for Carr not to come up.
Want to talk about WRs on the Texans? Carr is implied.
Want to talk about the running game? The TEs? The OL?
Want to talk about the salary cap?
Want to talk about Kubiak and Smith?
Want to talk about the x's and o's of games this past year?

The quarterback is so instrumental to the team that no matter what you post on this board, SOMEONE out there will blame Carr or praise Carr regarding it.

Unless we talk strictly about defense, its impossible for Carr not to come up.
Want to talk about WRs on the Texans? Carr is implied.
Want to talk about the running game? The TEs? The OL?
Want to talk about the salary cap?
Want to talk about Kubiak and Smith?
Want to talk about the x's and o's of games this past year?

The quarterback is so instrumental to the team that no matter what you post on this board, SOMEONE out there will blame Carr or praise Carr regarding it.

Unless we talk strictly about defense, its impossible for Carr not to come up.
Want to talk about WRs on the Texans? Carr is implied.
Want to talk about the running game? The TEs? The OL?
Want to talk about the salary cap?
Want to talk about Kubiak and Smith?
Want to talk about the x's and o's of games this past year?

The quarterback is so instrumental to the team that no matter what you post on this board, SOMEONE out there will blame Carr or praise Carr regarding it.

This post will self destruct into a Carr thread in t minus 5..

Click to expand...

I know you specifically can do better than that. I did a lengthy post on the offense last week, and I added QB at the end just to be complete. I could have left it off with little lost. Why? All the crap about QB has been said; people have made up their minds.

What I would like to see is all of the football experts here to say, "Hey, enough of David Carr, here is what I think about X", with X being anything about Texans football not David Carr or a thin attempt of disguise and still being about David Carr.

So haters and lovers, do you accept the challenge or will you too curl up into a little ball and regurgitate the same stuff? Can you generate a serious front page of the Bullpen with no Carr posts?

I say you can't. You don't know enough about football.

Reverse psychology? No. I think as a group you are all that limited. Sorry, but you've proved it over the past six months.

Click to expand...

I can do it in 3,000 words or less, I think we should hold steady on draft neither moving up or down. But counting on scouts who found Winston, Spencer, Ryans and those street FA's who came in and helped out in a pinch, I like what Rick Smith brings to table in terms of player evaluation..I also like what Gary Kubiak brings in terms of ACTUAL playing experience and as a coach (who by the way started as a position coach not an OC).

This is a deep draft for QBs, WRs and Defensive players, I think we need to stop pass rushes from opposing defenses and get a pass rush on opposing QBs. I think we need to fill all our holes unless (please forgive me Mr. Royal) Adrian Peterson is there at #8, QB is not a need immediately for us.

I think using a mid-round (2nd day) pick on a QBand ONLY IF he is a steal, otherwise use wisdom of little dutch boy and plug the holes in the lines.

Unless we talk strictly about defense, its impossible for Carr not to come up.
Want to talk about WRs on the Texans? Carr is implied.
Want to talk about the running game? The TEs? The OL?
Want to talk about the salary cap?
Want to talk about Kubiak and Smith?
Want to talk about the x's and o's of games this past year?

The quarterback is so instrumental to the team that no matter what you post on this board, SOMEONE out there will blame Carr or praise Carr regarding it.

This post will self destruct into a Carr thread in t minus 5..

Click to expand...

I can talk for DAYS about how our WR's don't get good seperation, comeback to the ball, make proper hot read. I can talk for DAYS about how our running game needs a RB with better vision, durability or break away speed. I can talk for DAYS about how our TE's/ game plan doesn't exploit TE's stretching the field, exploiting the cover 2 or making the proper, or good, blocks. CC had MUCH more to do with the salary cap than DC...he just signed the contract offered to him. Last time I checked, neither Kubiak or Smith played QB for the Texans( AND they are responsable for much more)nor do X's and O's play only QB. DC is NOT the Texans and the Texans are NOT DC. The QB of ANY team is given WAY to much credit/blame for wins and losses.

How does Green fit our offense? How is our o-line talent wise? Do Kubiak's actions follow his words? Will Ryans have a sophomore slump? Will last year's street free agent defensive tackles make the team? Will they start? Should we pattern our offense after Denver which has unusual schemes and players in the NFL, or should we build a more standard team first?

Are these too hard to address?

I'd like to hear opinions about many areas, and things I haven't even thought of.

I can talk for DAYS about how our WR's don't get good seperation, comeback to the ball, make proper hot read. I can talk for DAYS about how our running game needs a RB with better vision, durability or break away speed. I can talk for DAYS about how our TE's/ game plan doesn't exploit TE's stretching the field, exploiting the cover 2 or making the proper, or good, blocks. CC had MUCH more to do with the salary cap than DC...he just signed the contract offered to him. Last time I checked, neither Kubiak or Smith played QB for the Texans( AND they are responsable for much more)nor do X's and O's play only QB. DC is NOT the Texans and the Texans are NOT DC. The QB of ANY team is given WAY to much credit/blame for wins and losses.

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I know this is lame, and I hate to do this, but:

These are ideas. Im not 100% on any of them
Running game - The reason our running game seems to flutter at times could be because the opposing safeties read run first, cover 2nd. Our gameplan, because of how Kubiak designed it, requires very quick passes. Not a lot of playaction, not a lot of 7 step drops to out routes or deep posts. The safeties can sneak up and play the run because they aren't worried about being beaten over the top.

Our WRs don't get good separation because they don't have time. When your gameplan is to throw the ball before 1.5s, its tough to do much other than get into your routes nad hope the defense is playing a type of D that allows you some space. Thats why we have so many 1 yard hitch routes. Easy separation. I honestly think if the pass blocking was better or if we could drop back for longer, maybe in shotgun, we'd get a better read on our receivers abilities. i refuse to believe that Eric Moulds, a receiver who demonstarted excellent route running in Buffalo, suddenly lost all his ability.

On TEs its the same. There is no way to stretch the field if 90% of your passing game focuses on the short routes. Add to that the fact that our QB seems hesitant to throw over the middle, and you soon realize why our TEs were making catches near the sidelines rather than on the seems down th emiddle of the field like, say, Indy TEs.

I will agree that the amount of Carr information is nauseating. But I also must confess that I think a quarterback change legitimately changes EVERY aspect of your football team. Change in quarterback play can make a perennial loser into a winner. Think back to all the horrible teams that have jumped into the playoffs over the past 5 or so years. What do they all have in common? Quarterback improvement.

San Diego - worst team in the league. Brees steps up his play, the team is in the playoffs

NO - 2nd worst team in the league. Brees comes aboard, the team is in the playoffs

Pittsburgh - Top 10 draft pick, Roethlisberger comes on board, the team is in the playoffs

I mean, I know its old to hear about DC so often, but if hear me out:
As a Texan fan, I know our team is bad. I know we lose often. I can think two things:
Either 1) Every position on our team needs an upgrade

OR

2) The QB play has been so poor that the offense is totally out of rhythm, thus leaving the defense on the field all game long and leading to misleading results

If option 1 is correct, this team will take 2-5 years to become contenders.

if option 2 is correct, cutting or trading Carr and replacing him with someone better will take the team to where I want it to be in 1-2 years.

mario williams' rookie season really impressed me. not because he excelled at his position, but because of his continued improvement and off the charts physical ability. there was not a player infront of him that mario couldnt out-run or simply manhandle once he was able to diagnose the play. and that was on a bum foot as a rookie. mario's only weakness last season was just that, it took him seemingly forever to diagnose the play which meant by the time he picked up what was happening and throw his blocker aside, it was already too late. that will change with experience and coaching. picking up that kind of raw power and raw talent as a very young underclassman was IMO critical to building our new "kubiak" era. mario's going to continue to get stronger and faster as he matures into his body, and all that's lacking football wise is experience. given a healthy full season, jason babin getting legit time from the get-go on the opposite side and last year's experience ... teams who were already afraid to run at mario are also going have to fear him trampling their quarterback.

that will happen quickly, and as the double teams amp up, look out for demeco ... the only thing keeping him from 5+ sacks last year as a rookie was simply being too eager and rookie mistakes (and arguably the scorekeeper also). demeco has an uncanny ability like all great linebackers to be on the ball. all of the talk of "he's too little, he's not strong enough to shed blockers" as i said the moment he was drafted is utter nonsense. ryans has that unteachable football instinct that guys like urlacher and ray lewis and zach thomas are just born with. those two "worst draft ever" picks are going to solidify a top defense. make no mistake, while we complain & moan about "south denver", we're doing what's been successful for the broncos. great coaching, an overabundance of pure physical talent on defense, and as seen from last season, we're building our core ... the trenches. there's plenty to be excited about in the near future. one or two breaks last year and we're .500+. with the loss of cook, the addition of spencer and black, ahman green being much better than any back we had last season, and adding one or two starters in the draft ... we could very well suprise a lot of people.

What I would like to see is all of the football experts here to say, "Hey, enough of David Carr, here is what I think about X", with X being anything about Texans football not David Carr or a thin attempt of disguise and still being about David Carr.

So haters and lovers, do you accept the challenge or will you too curl up into a little ball and regurgitate the same stuff? Can you generate a serious front page of the Bullpen with no Carr posts?

I say you can't. You don't know enough about football.

Reverse psychology? No. I think as a group you are all that limited. Sorry, but you've proved it over the past six months.

Click to expand...

I'm not one of the football experts but I've been in the middle (on both sides) of Carr debates so...

Hey, enough of David Carr, here is what I think about: Our Offensive Scheme.

I'm really concerned about the direction our offense is heading. When Kubiak first came here, there was all this talk about how we were going to mimic Denver's system. I'm afraid that Kubiak and Sherman are trying to synthesize a new offensive philosophy by combining Green Bay's power running offense with the Denver ZB running game. It concerns me that the type of line you need for one of those approaches is different than the approach you need for the other.

The power running game really needs big road grader type of linemen while the Denver zone blocking type of system needs smaller, more nimble linemen. And I'm afraid that by trying to mix these two schemes they're going to end up with a mix of linemen that don't function well together as a group.

When we finally ran the bootlegs off the Denver type of running play, it wasn't as much of a surprise because we hadn't been running that same running play (or variations of the same play) over and over again. Defenses saw us doing something unusual and knew to prepare for it.

Surely Kubiak and Sherman realize this. These guys have to be smarter about football strategy than I am but still, it worries me.

Now, if they are able to come up with something that's new and effective... then rock on. Never mind me.

And while I'm on a soapbox, I'm tired of hearing how we don't need to spend early round draft choices on a running back. We are not Denver. We don't have Denver's level of talent, yet, and we're not the same offense. Maybe one day we'll be able to get away with that and maybe Lundy and Taylor will surprise us and blossom into great running backs next year, but I don't think we should pass up a great running back in the draft if one falls to us early just because it's early.

These are ideas. Im not 100% on any of them
Running game - The reason our running game seems to flutter at times could be because the opposing safeties read run first, cover 2nd. Our gameplan, because of how Kubiak designed it, requires very quick passes. Not a lot of playaction, not a lot of 7 step drops to out routes or deep posts. The safeties can sneak up and play the run because they aren't worried about being beaten over the top.

Our WRs don't get good separation because they don't have time. When your gameplan is to throw the ball before 1.5s, its tough to do much other than get into your routes nad hope the defense is playing a type of D that allows you some space. Thats why we have so many 1 yard hitch routes. Easy separation. I honestly think if the pass blocking was better or if we could drop back for longer, maybe in shotgun, we'd get a better read on our receivers abilities. i refuse to believe that Eric Moulds, a receiver who demonstarted excellent route running in Buffalo, suddenly lost all his ability.

On TEs its the same. There is no way to stretch the field if 90% of your passing game focuses on the short routes. Add to that the fact that our QB seems hesitant to throw over the middle, and you soon realize why our TEs were making catches near the sidelines rather than on the seems down th emiddle of the field like, say, Indy TEs.

I will agree that the amount of Carr information is nauseating. But I also must confess that I think a quarterback change legitimately changes EVERY aspect of your football team. Change in quarterback play can make a perennial loser into a winner. Think back to all the horrible teams that have jumped into the playoffs over the past 5 or so years. What do they all have in common? Quarterback improvement.

San Diego - worst team in the league. Brees steps up his play, the team is in the playoffs

NO - 2nd worst team in the league. Brees comes aboard, the team is in the playoffs

Pittsburgh - Top 10 draft pick, Roethlisberger comes on board, the team is in the playoffs
I mean, I know its old to hear about DC so often, but if hear me out:
As a Texan fan, I know our team is bad. I know we lose often. I can think two things:
Either 1) Every position on our team needs an upgrade

OR

2) The QB play has been so poor that the offense is totally out of rhythm, thus leaving the defense on the field all game long and leading to misleading results

If option 1 is correct, this team will take 2-5 years to become contenders.

if option 2 is correct, cutting or trading Carr and replacing him with someone better will take the team to where I want it to be in 1-2 years.

Click to expand...

As far as San Diego, I have 2 letters for you: LT
NO? A talented team that has perennially disappointed AND had to deal with Katrina/16 road games.
Pittsburgh? HAHA!!! They've missed the playoffs like 3 times in 15 years. I can't BELIEVE they did it with Big Ben. Boy, he had a GREAT year in '06. I'm not a Carr homer or anything, I just don't see us getting better at the position this year, period. My BIG question is did we start doing all the stupid game planning(short routes/quick reads/throws) because of DC or because of the general ineptness of our O? A case can be made either way. Very good point about our D being on the field too long. That would be different if they could actually stop 3rd and intermediate to long reliably.

just to touch on new orleans and san diego. new orleans was a good team to begin with and had been for a few years, all they've needed was a legit quarterback. they landed brees and got insanely lucky by getting colston who almost immediately replaced horn as the #1 receiver. the only suprising thing about new orleans is that they lost bentley without any significant dropoff.

san diego was primed in many ways, and LT had nothing to do with it. LT's big season was during their 4-12 year, and he fell off significantly next year when they went 12-4. what changed is SD started FOUR new offensive linemen and picked up igor olshansky, shawn phillips, & nate kaeding in the draft. antonio gates came into his own that year (his second year) and that combination allowed brees to become the quarterback we know today.

new orleans was already a good team, and san diego in a season in 1/2 was able to build both sides of their lines.

just to touch on new orleans and san diego. new orleans was a good team to begin with and had been for a few years, all they've needed was a legit quarterback. they landed brees and got insanely lucky by getting colston who almost immediately replaced horn as the #1 receiver. the only suprising thing about new orleans is that they lost bentley without any significant dropoff.

san diego was primed in many ways, and LT had nothing to do with it. LT's big season was during their 4-12 year, and he fell off significantly next year when they went 12-4. what changed is SD started FOUR new offensive linemen and picked up igor olshansky, shawn phillips, & nate kaeding in the draft. antonio gates came into his own that year (his second year) and that combination allowed brees to become the quarterback we know today.

new orleans was already a good team, and san diego in a season in 1/2 was able to build both sides of their lines.

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Did you miss the 31 TD's and 2300 yds of offense LT brought to the table last year??? The dude was a MONSTER!!! Other than that, I agree that '05 was the year they turned it around. Losing in the playoffs was a major surprise and a fluke that seems to happen most years.

Did you miss the 31 TD's and 2300 yds of offense LT brought to the table last year??? The dude was a MONSTER!!! Other than that, I agree that '05 was the year they turned it around. Losing in the playoffs was a major surprise and a fluke that seems to happen most years.

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i definitely saw that, but i was just illustrating that LT wasnt what made the chargers ... and even during his breakout season couldnt single handedly carry the chargers past 4 wins. offensive line, defensive line ... those are the only real changes to occur during the chargers dramatic change. brees, LT, gates, neal, donnie edwards, jammer ... all of these guys were around for their 4 win year, but they didnt have the trenches needed to utilize any of them. they still dont have receivers, their secondary isnt great. it all begins and ends in the trenches and when the chargers robbed the giants in 04 in the draft to build their defense, along with building their offensive line the year before, they became a powerhouse.